hysterically
adverb
Simple meaning
With, or causing, very much laughter.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
hihstehrihkleeSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
hɪsˈtɛɹɪkli
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
adverb
In a hysterical manner; showing signs of hysteria.
“She screamed hysterically when she heard the news.”
With, or causing, very much laughter.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C2 · Proficient (estimated)
- Frequency
- Rare
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: In a hysterical manner; showing signs of hysteria.
Used this way, hysterically is a common word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
“She screamed hysterically when she heard the news.”
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use hysterically
- “She screamed hysterically when she heard the news.”adverb
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.